Public Statements

Statement

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) today supported passage of the surface transportation bill (H.R.4348) conference report, which cleared the Senate today on a vote of 74-19. The conference report allocates more than $1 billion per fiscal year for critical highway and transit improvements in Virginia through FY2014. Without this legislation, the current transportation funding extension would have expired tomorrow at midnight.

"Millions of Virginians rely on the Commonwealth's roadways and transit systems every single day," said Senator Webb. "The passage of this critical conference report will ensure that Virginia can continue to improve its aging transportation infrastructure and also provide job security for local construction workers, who have experienced a particularly high unemployment rate. This legislation will have a positive impact across the state from the congested roadways of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to those who depend on rural highways from Central to Southwest Virginia."

The conference report provides certainty and continued funding for projects that have relied on nine funding extensions over nearly three years. It will ensure that thousands of Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) projects are able to continue to move forward toward completion.

In May, Senator Webb joined a bipartisan letter to the Surface Transportation Conference Committee urging the inclusion of improved federal transit safety standards in the conference report. The final report includes similar provisions for transit system safety standards nationwide, including the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.